Process and apparatus for distributing a fluidized solid material



Feb. 10, 1959 Filed May 21, 1956 F. scHAFER ET AL PROCESS AND APPARATUSFOR DISTRIBUTING A FLUIDIZED SOLID MATERIAL 3 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 10,1959 F. scHAFER ET AL 2,873,049

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING A FLUIDIZED SOLID MATERIAL FiledMay 21, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 is: (-)r o IQ: i 7 RE -73 53 i i g 2 1 I42 42 g 1 km 1 I A: i I g i i VII/11111111 ywemors:

United States Patent PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING A FLUIDIZEDSOLID MATERIAL Fritz Sehfifer, Silschede uher Gevelsherg, and AlfonsBrockmann, Sythen nber Haltern, Germany, assignors to Schafer-Flottmann& Co. G. m. h. H., Silschede uber Gevelsherg, Westphalia, GermanyApplication May 21, 1956, Serial No. 586,195

Claims priority, application Germany May 20, 1955 8 Claims. (Cl. 222--1)The present invention relates to a process and apparatus fordistributing a fluidized solid material.

The process and apparatus of the present invention may be used, forexample, for distributing a fluidized solid material such as anexplosive which may be in powder form or in a semi-plastic form.

Up to the present time devices for distributing such materials as, forexample, explosives of the above type are extremely complicated inconstruction and the filling process takes a considerable period of timebecause where the material is filled into a paper envelope, for example,only one envelope is filled at one time.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a process andapparatus capable of filling a plurality of containers such as paperenvelopes or the like simultaneously with a fluidized solid materialsuch as an explosive powder or the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a process andapparatus capable of uniformly distributing the fluidized solid materialand at the same time guaranteeing that the material is distributed insuch a way that it has a uniform density and weight distribution.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a machine fordistributing a fluidized solid material and characterized by greatsimplicity.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a processand apparatus for distributing a fluidized solid material in such a waythat the friction between the part of the material which is ejected froma receptacle into a paper container or the like and a part of thematerial remaining in the receptacle is not undesirably high.

With the above objects in view the present invention mainly consists ofan apparatus for distributing a fluidized solid material and including ahopper having an open top and bottom downwardly through which thefluidized solid material is adapted to flow. A ramming means extendsinto the hopper and is adapted to move in a vertical direction forramming the fluidized solid material downwardly out of the hopper. Thehopper is connected to a means which is capable of reciprocating thesame back and forth in a direction transverse to the vertical movementof the ramming means and the downward movement of the fluidized solidmaterial through the hopper, so that the fluidized solid material isprepacked and uniformly distributed beneath the ramming means before thelatter moves downwardly along its ramming stroke. Also, with the aboveobjects in view, the present invention mainly consists of a process fordistributing a fluidized solid material and including the steps ofvibrating a hopper in which the fluidized solid material is located in ahorizontal direction which prepacks and uniformly distributes thematerial beneath a ramming means while simultaneously vibrating theramming means in a horizontal direction, and then moving the rammingmeans. downwardly along its ramming stroke to ram the fluidized solidmaterial into a row of compartments of a re- 2,873,049 Patented Feb. 10,1959 ceptacle. The material which is thus rammed into these compartmentsis ejected therefrom, and just before the ejection the ramming means israised to a very slight distance so that the friction between theportion of the material which is ejected and that which remains in thecompartments is not undesirably high.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, partly sectional, elevational view of onepossible construction of an apparatus according to the present inventionand capable of carrying out the process of the present invention, theramming means being shown in Fig. 1 in its upper rest position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional, elevational view showing part of thestructure of Fig. 2 in the position which it takes when the rammingmeans is at the bottom of its ramming stroke and when an ejecting meanshas been actuated to eject the rammed material;

Fig. 3 is a transverse, partly sectional, elevational view showing theapparatus in the same position as in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse, sectional view showing the structure in theposition of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a transverse, sectional elevational view illustrating theprocess of the present invention just before the steps of the processare started;

Fig. 6 illustrates the process at an intermediate stage; and a Fig. 7shows the process of the present invention at the end of the rammingstroke of the ramming means.

Referring now to the drawings and to Figs. 1-4 in particular, it will beseen that the structure of the invention includes a hopper 1 which isopen at its top and bottom so that a fluidized solid material such as anexplosive powder, for example, may flow downwardly through the hopper 1.The bottom end of the hopper 1 is formed by an opening in a wall 2 whichcarries the remainder of the hopper 1, the portion of the hopper 1 whichextends upwardly from the wall 2 being fixed thereto as by welding orthe like, for example. The wall 2 is horizontal and the bottom openingof the hopper 1 formed by the opening of the wall 2 is provided with aplurality of elongated passages 3, as is evident from Figs. 14. Theseelongated passages 3 are formed by a plurality of bars 19 (Fig. 5) whichare fixed to the horizontal wall 2 and which extend across the openingtherein, these bars 19 beingparallel to each other so as to form theelongated passages 3.

In accordance with the present invention a means is provided forhorizontally reciprocating the hopper 1, and this means includes a pairof rods 4 which are guided for reciprocating movement along their axesby extending through suitable openings formed in the side walls 4 of aframe which supports the entire apparatus. The rods 4 are fixed to theupper ends of bars 5 which in turn are fixed at their lower ends to thewall 2, so that when the rods 4 are reciprocated back and forth, to theright and left, as viewed in Fig. 3, then the hopper 1 is reciprocatedin a horizontal direction. Any suitable means may be used to provide thereciprocation of the hopper 1, and as is shown in Fig. 3, the left rod 4has a pin 30 fixed thereto and extending into an elongated slot 31formed in a lever 32 which is pivotally supported at its bottom end by apivot pin 33 carried by a stationary support means of the apparatus ofthe invention. A link 34 is pivotally connected at its left end to thelever 32 and atits right end, as viewed inFig; 3, to a'disk 35 fluidizedsolid material in the hopper 1 downwardly out of the same, and thisramming means includes a plurality of elongated ramming members 6havingat their bottom ends elongated ramming portions which extendhorizontally and which are capable of moving with clearance through thepassages 3 at the bottom of the hopper 1. The ramming members 6 arelocated at their upper end portions in elongated cutouts formed in ablock of aluminum, for example, and these ramming members 6 are fixed tothe block 10 by any suitable screw members or thelike. The block 10 isin turn afiixed to a plate 11 as by being screwed thereto, .this plate11 being shown in Fig. 1, and the plate 11 is itself afiixed as bywelding or the like, for example, to an elongated shaft 12 which iscarried for turning movement about its axis by a member 7 formedadjacent its opposite side edges with elongated vertically extendingbores through which a pair of guide bars 8 slidably extend in a verticaldirection, as is evident from Fig. 3. Thus these guide bars 8 guide themember 7 for vertical movement, and the ramming members 6 together withthe members 10 and 11 move vertically with the carrier member 7. Theguide bars 8 are carried by the side walls 4 of the supporting frame.

A moving means is provided in order to move the ramming means bothupwardly and downwardly and this moving means includes a pair of bars 9afi'ixed to and extending downwardly from the carrier member 7, thesebars 9 being located outwardly of the guide bars 8. The bars 9 areparallel to each other and each bar 9 has a plate 40 atfixed to itsbottom end in any suitable way as by being threaded thereon or as beingwelded thereto. A pair of cams 41 of identical construction respectivelyengage the plates 40, and a pair of coil springs 42 are respectivelyconnected at their bottom ends to the bars 9 so as to urge the latterupwardly and in this way maintain the plates 40 in engagement with thecams 41. The upper ends of the springs 42 are respectively fixed to anystationary members. A pair of motors 43 which are operated insynchronism are connected to the cams 41 to turn the latter, and thecams 41 have a shape which will move the ramming members 6 downwardlyalong their ramming stroke through a desired distance, then upwardlythrough a very slight distance such as 1 or 2 mm., and then finally backup to their rest position which is shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The ramming stroke of the ramming means may be adjusted in any suitableway. Thus, if desired, the ramming members 6 may be connected to theblock 10 in such a way that the elevation of the ramming members 6 maybe adjusted, or, the cams 41 may be replaced by other cams havingsomewhat different shapes so that in this way also the stroke of theramming means may be regulated.

A further feature of the present invention is that the ramming members 6themselves may be reciprocated in a substantially horizontal directionfor a purpose described below, and for this purpose the right end of theshaft 12, as viewed in Fig. 1, has a crank 13 fixed thereto. As may beseen from Fig. 3, the upper end of the crank 13 is pivotally connectedto an elongated link 56 which is pivotally connected at its right end,as viewed in Fig. 3, to a second link 51 whose bottom end is pivotallyconnected to a stationary lug which is fixed to the top surface of thecarrier member 7. A motor 52 is carried by this carrier member 7 androtates a cam 53 which engages the link 51, and a spring 54 is connectedat its right end, as viewed inFig. 3, to the link 50 aud at its leftend, as viewed in Fig. 3, to a lug 55 fixed to the top face of thecarrier member 7, sothat the spring 54 maintains the link 51 inengagement with the cam 53. Thus,

4 during operation of the motor 52 the cam 53 will cause the lever 51 toturn back and forth through a relatively small angle, as may be seenfrom the shape of the cam 53 in Fig. 3, and as a result the crank 13will turn back and forth through a relatively small angle and theramming members 6 will reciprocate in a substantially horizontaldirection with the hopper 1.

The material which is to be distributed is supplied to a hopper 14, thishopper 14 being shown at the right portion of Fig. 1. The material isadvanced to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1, from the hopper 14 by a screw15 which is supported for rotation about its axis and which is turnedfrom any suitable drive which is not shown in the drawings. The pair ofside walls 4' of the frame carry a transverse wall 16' which is formedintermediate the walls 4' with a substantially oval-shaped opening 16,as is evident from Fig. 3, and as is shown in Fig. l the screw 15extends into the opening 16. Within the opening 16 is located a bearing60 for the screw 15, this bearing 60 being carried by a plurality ofmembers 61 which are fixed to the outer face of the bearing 60 and whichextend radially therefrom to the member 16' to which they are fixed asby welding or the like within the opening 16. At its left end, as viewedin Fig. 1, just beyond the bearing 60, the screw 15 carries a ring 62which is fixed thereto as by any suitable set screw or the like, andthis ring 62 has a plurality of bars 63 fixed to and extending radiallytherefrom so that the fluidized solid material is agitated by the bars63 which turn with the screw 15 and as a result any of the fluidizedsolid material which tends to cling together in an undesirable manner isbroken up. The material which is supplied in this way simply falls intothe hopper 1.

Directly beneath and in engagement with the bottom wall 2 of the hopper1 is a receptacle 65 provided with a row of compartments each of whichincludes a lower portion 17 and an upper portion 18. As is evident fromthe drawings, this row of compartments extends along the space beneaththe bottom open end of the hopper 1, and the wall 2 engages the top faceof the receptacle 65. The compartments are open at their top so that afluidized solid material may flow from the hopper 1 directly into thecompartments. The upper portions 18 0f the compartments are ofsubstantially rectangular cross section while the lower portions 17 arecylindrical. A plurality of ejector members 21 extend slidably into thereceptacle 65 which is stationary and these ejector members 21 arerespectively in alignment with the bottom portions 17 ot thecompartments so that when the ejector members 21 are moved in anysuitable way from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 2 they willeject from the lower portions 17 of the compartments material which hasbeen rammed into the same by the ramming members 6. Opposite the ejectormembers 21, the compartment 65 is provided with a wall carrying aplurality of tubular outlets 22 which respectively communicate with theportions 17 of the compartments and which are respectively in alignmentwith the ejector members 21 so as to receive the latter, as is evidentfrom Fig. 2. These tubular members 22 are adapted to carry the paperenvelopes or the like 23 into which the rammed material is moved by theejector members 21.

The process performed by the above described structure will beunderstood by referring to Figs. 5-7. Fig. 5 shows the parts in theposition which they take at the beginning of the process and just beforethe process has started. The dot-dash lines in the hopper 1 in Fig. 5 aswell as in Figs. 6 and 7 indicate the places where the fluidized solidmaterial is located. It will be noted that in Fig. 5 there are emptyspaces beneath the ramming members 6. These empty spaces have beencreated by the upward movement of the ramming members 6 at the end ofthe preceding cycle of operations. The rainming members 6 are shown intheir rest position in Fig. 5 and during their upward movement to thisrest position they create in the fluidized solid material the emptyspaces shown in Fig. 5 beneath the ramming members 6. Furthermore,it.will be noted that a packed material 20 is located within theportions 18 of each ofthe compartments of the receptacle 65. Thesebodies 20 of packed material have been formed by the preceding cycles ofoperations but were not moved out of the receptacle 65. Only the packedmaterial in the lower cylindrical portions 17 of the compartments isejected from the receptacle 65. 7

With the parts in the position of Fig. 5, a cycle of operations starts,and this cycle of operations includes first the operation of the motor36 so as to horizontally reciprocate the hopper 1 to the right andleft,'as viewed in Figs. 5-7. This hopper 1 is reciprocated in thismanner a plurality of times, and as a result the loose materialin thehopper 1 becomes distributed beneath the ramming members 6. Furthermore,during this reciprocation of the hopper 1 the bars 19 move back andforth so as to provide a uniform distribution of the fluidized solidmaterial which now fills the portions of the compartment parts 18located above the bodies 20 of packed material. Also the material fillsthe spaces beneath the ramming members 6, as is evident from Fig. 6. Thedrawings show in Figs. 5 and 6 the different positions taken by thehopper 1 during this horizontal reciprocation.

To guarantee a perfectly uniform distribution of the material prior tothe downward movement of the ramming members 6 along their rammingstrokes, respectively, these members 6 themselves are reciprocated backand forth horizontally, and in order to accomplish this the motor 52 isoperated simultaneously with the motor 36. Thus, the horizontallyreciprocating hopper as well as the horizontally reciprocating rammingmembers 6 provide on the one hand a uniform distribution of the materialbetween the ramming members '6 and the bodies 20 of previously rammedmaterial located in the compartment portions 18, and on the other handthe material which is uniformly distributed in this manner is alsoprepacked by the reciprocation of the hopper 1 and the ramming members6. After the ramming members 6 and the hopper 1 have been horizontallyreciprocated a number of times, the motors 36 and 52 are stopped, andnow the ramming stroke takes place, the motors 43 being started for thispurpose. The cams 41 cause the plates 40 and the bars 9 to move down soas to pull the carrier member 7 down against the force of the springs42. As a result the ramming members 6 move down from the position ofFig. 6 to that of Fig. 7 creating the empty spaces shown in Fig. 7 whichremain during the upward movement of the ramming members 6 back to theposition of Fig. 5 at the end of the process so as to provide the freespaces beneath the ramming members 6, as shown in Fig. 5. The downwardmovement of the ramming members 6 along their ramming strokes packsmaterial between the ramming members 6 and the previously packed body 20into the compartments 17, 18 above these bodies 20 so that the latterare now moved downwardly into the compartment portions 17 and packedtherein and new bodies 20 are created, as shown in Fig. 7. In accordancewith the present invention, before the ejectors 21 are actuated to ejectthe packed material in the compartment portions 17, the cams 41 havesuch a shape that at the end of the ramming stroke the ramming members 6are raised through a distance of one or two mm. by the springs 42 sothat when the ejector members 21 move along their ejecting strokes thepart of the packed material within the compartment portions 17 can bemoved out of the same without practically any frictional resistanceproduced by the engagement of the body of ejected material with thebodies 20 which remain in the compartment portions 18 after the ejectionis completed. In this way the power required to operate the ejectors 21is not wasted in overcoming unnecessary friction and the ejectors 21 canoperate quickly and easily to eject cylinders of packed fluidized solidmaterial through the tubes 22 and into the paper envelopes 23 whichreceive the packed cylinders of fluidized solid materials and which aremoved by their ejectors members 21 themselves oif from the tubes 22', asis evident from Fig. 2, so that the filled envelopes 23 may be veryeasily removed from the machine. These paper envelopes 23 when they arefilled with a packed explosive powder, for example, may be used forcartridges and the like. After the material is ejected the rammingmembers 6 are raised by the rotation of the cams 41 and the springs 42to their rest position and the apparatus is ready to carry out the nextcycle of operations.

- It will be noted that with the process and apparatus of the inventionit is possible to fill a plurality of containers similar to thecontainers 23 simultaneously. Although only four containers 23 can befilled with the particular structure shown in the drawings and describedabove, it is evident that this number is not critical and that more orless than four containers may be simultaneously filled with the processand apparatus of the present invention. Furthermore, the material whichis distributed is of a uniform density and weight distribution and withthe process and apparatus of the invention there can be no gaps in thebodies of packed material.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofapparatus and process for distributing a fluidized solid materialdiffering from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied inapparatus and process for distributing a fluidized solid material to aplurality of containers simultaneously, it is not intended to be limitedto the details shown, since various modifications and structural changesmay be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the presentinvention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for distributing a fluidized solid material, comprising, incombination, a hopper having open top and bottom ends so that thefluidized solid material can flow downwardly along said hopper; rammingmeans ex.- tending into said hopper for ramming the fluidized solidmaterial therein in a vertical direction; and reciprocating meansoperatively connected to said hopper for reciprocating the same in adirection transverse to the vertical movement of the ramming means andthe direction along which the fluidized solid flows downwardly throughthe hopper.

2. Apparatus for distributing a fluidized solid material, comprising, incombination, a hopper having open top and bottom ends so that thefluidized solid material can flow downwardly along said hopper; rammingmeans extending into said hopper for ramming the fluidized solidmaterial therein in a vertical direction; reciprocating meansoperatively connected to said hopper for reciprocating the same in adirection transverse to the vertical movement of the ramming means andthe direction along which the fluidized solid flows downwardly throughthe hopper; and means located at the bottom end portion of said hopperand forming a plurality of elongated passages at said bottom end portionthrough which the fluidized solid material moves.

3. Apparatus for distributing a fluidized solid material, comprising, incombination, a hopper having open top and bottom ends so that thefluidized solid material can flow downwardly along said hopper; rammingmeans extending into said hopper for ramming the fluidized. solidmaterial therein in a vertical direction; reciprocating meansoperatively connected to said hopper for reciprocating the same in adirection transverse to the vertical movement of the ramming means andthe direction along which the fluidized solid flows downwardly throughthe hopper; and reciprocating means operatively connected to saidramming means for reciprocating the latter back and forth in a directiontransverse to the direction of vertical movement thereof.

4. Apparatus for distributing a fluidized solid material, comprising, incombination, a hopper having open top and bottom ends so that thefluidized solid material can flow downwardly along said hopper; rammingmeans extending into said hopper for ramming the fluidized solidmaterial therein in a vertical direction; reciprocating meansoperatively connected to said hopper for reciprocating the same in adirection transverse to the vertical movement of the ramming means andthe direction along which the fluidized solid flows downwardly throughthe hopper; and a plurality of elongated substantially parallel barsspaced from each other and fixed to said hopper at said bottom endthereof for forming a plurality of elongated passages for the fluidizedsolid material at the bottom end of said hopper.

5. In a process for distributing a fluidized solid material, the stepsof reciprocating a hopper in a horizontal direction transverse to thedirection of flow of the fluidized solid material therethrough; andsimultaneously reciprocating in a horizontal direction a ramming meanswhich extends into said hopper and which performs its ramming action bymovement in a vertical direction.

6. Apparatus for distributing a fluidized solid material comprising, incombination, a receptacle having a row of compartments which are open atthe top; a plurality of substantially vertical ramming membersrespectively located over said compartments in alignment therewith;moving means operatively connected to said ramming members forsimultaneously moving the same from a rest position where the bottomends of said ramming members are respectively located above saidcompartments downwardly along a ramming stroke at the end of which saidramming members are partly loeated within said compartments and thenback up to said rest position; a hopper located directly over saidreceptacle, partly surrounding said ramming members, and'having a bottomopen end communicating with said compartments; and reciprocating meansoperatively connected to said hopper for reciprocating the same back andforth in the direction in which said row of compartments extends, sothat when said ramming members are in their rest position the horizontalreciprocation of said hopper will distribute and prepack fluidized solidmaterial in said hopper in the space beneath said ramming members.

7. Apparatus for distributing a fluidized solid mater al comprising, incombination, a receptacle having a row of compartments which are open atthe top; a plurality of substantially vertical ramming membersrespectively located over said compartments in alignment therewith;moving means operatively connected to said ramming members forsimultaneously moving the same from a rest position where the bottomends of said ramming members are respectively located above saidcompartments downwardly along a ramming stroke at the end of which saidramming members are partly located within said compartments and thenback up to said rest position; a hopper located directly over saidreceptacle, partly surrounding said ramming members, and having a bottomopen end communicating with said compartments; reciprocating meansoperatively connected to said hopper for reciprocating the same back andforth in the direction in which said row of compartments extends, sothat when said ramming members are in their rest position the horizontalreciprocation of said hopepr will distribute and prepack fluidized solidmaterial in said hopper in the space beneath said ramming members; and aplurality of elongated bars respectively located between saidcompartments directly over said receptacle and being fixed to saidhopper at the bottom end thereof so that said ramming members movebetween said bars when said ramming members are moved by said movingmeans along their ramming strokes and so that said bars evenlydistribute the fluidized solid material into said compartments duringhorizontal reciprocation of said hopper.

8. Apparatus for distributing a fluidized solid material comprising, incombination, a receptacle having a row of compartments which are open atthe top; a plurality of substantially vertical ramming membersrespectively located over said compartments in alignment therewith;moving means operatively connected to said ramming members forsimultaneously moving the same from a rest position where the bottomends of said ramming members are respectively located above saidcompartments downwardly along a ramming stroke at the end of which saidramming members are partly located within said compartments and thenback up to said rest position; a hopper located directly over saidreceptacle, partly surrounding said ramming members, and having a bottomopen end communicating with said compartments; reciprocating meansoperatively connected to said hopper for reciprocating the same back andforth in the direction in which said row of compartments extends, sothat when said ramming members are in their rest position the horizontalreciprocation of said hopper will distribute and prepack fluidized solidmaterial in said hopper in the space beneath said ramming members; andreciprocating means operatively connected to said ramming members forreciprocating the same in a substantially horizontal directionsubstantially parallel to said row of compartments while said rammingmembers are in their upper rest position to aid in the uniformdistribution of the fluidized solid material in the spaces beneath theramming members and in the compartments.

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